Many Students May Leave Banquet Hungry on March 1

Quick Facts

As history faculty member Ginger Williams explains it, the event is a great way to delve into issues such as class, inequality, underdevelopment, and of course, poverty. When participants walk in the door they will be assigned a social class—upper class, middle class, or lower class.

Ginger Williams

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Organizers said Winthrop’s Hunger Banquet on March 1 is an educational event to teach students about world poverty and hunger and is certainly not a feast.

As history faculty member Ginger Williams explains it, the event is a great way to delve into issues such as class, inequality, underdevelopment, and of course, poverty. It begins at 7 p.m. in the Tuttle Dining Room of McBryde Hall.

When participants walk in the door they will be assigned a social class—upper class, middle class, or lower class. That will be determined by their ticket.

“Those sitting in the upper class section will eat a four course meal with table linens; those in the middle class will be served beans and rice and a drink, and those in the lower class will only eat rice and drink water,” said Williams, an associate professor of history. “The stark differences in what people are served helps to facilitate the discussion about world hunger.”

This is a moving event and the interplay between people in the different social classes at the “dinner” becomes an interesting part of the event, Williams said. Many Winthrop faculty and staff have brought their children to this event in the past with much success.

Tickets cost $5 and may be purchased in advance in 129 Crawford in the Office of Career and Civic Engagement. Tickets also may be purchased at the door in the Tuttle Dining Hall. If you plan to purchase your ticket at the door, please arrive early.

All proceeds will go to the Second Harvest Food Bank and to the Rocha Nicaragua Project, a school project by Winthrop faculty and students in Nicaragua.